Archive for the ‘John Boehner’ Category

Limerick Ode To A Speech Spat

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

I’ve bemoaned Obama’s bad negotiation skills in the past. But the latest brouhaha over a date to speak before Congress really takes the cake:

Limerick Ode To A Speech Spat
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Dear Obama, you waged a dumb fight
Over speech dates, and lost — not too bright!
Tell me, how did you make
Such a rookie mistake?
It’s no wonder your wins are so slight.

Yet Another Debt Ceiling Limerick

Saturday, July 30th, 2011

Yet Another Debt Ceiling Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Republicans love to proclaim
That uncertainty’s bad — that’s their game.
But one thing’s for sure:
Their proposed crisis cure
Leads to chronic uncertainty. Shame!

Limerick Ode To Timid Mitt Romney

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

Not only does Mitt Romney have a bad habit of flip-flopping on issues, but he appears afraid to pick a position on the key issue of the day — the debt ceiling. Does he embrace John Boehner’s debt ceiling plan? Nobody knows (except maybe Mitt’s hairdresser) because Romney refuses to commit:

Limerick Ode To Timid Mitt Romney
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Dear Romney, it’s time to take heed:
The job of a leader’s to lead.
So for once be a man:
Do you back Boehner’s plan?
Not choosing’s a cowardly deed.

Debt Ceiling Limerick Trio

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Here are three more debt ceiling limericks:

Our nation’s in trouble galore,
And the last thing we need is some more.
Yet pols in DC
Feel free to decree
“I shall get what I want. This is war.”

*****

I have many large bills to defray,
But our debt ceiling says we can’t pay.
“Increase me,” it squeals,
But my wife says, “No deals!
We’ll default. It’s the Washington way.”

*****

As the pols in DC vent their spleen
Over actions that should be routine,
Our land’s on the brink
Of a crisis some think
Was created on purpose. Obscene!

*******

John Boehner’s Patriotism Deficit

Monday, July 25th, 2011

Does John Boehner give a damn about our country? Or is he motivated purely by politics. The answer’s obvious.

John Boehner’s Patriotism Deficit (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

John Boehner has made his aims clear
As the debt ceiling deadline draws near.
Doing good ain’t his role.
“Stop Obama’s” his goal.
What a cavalier, faux budgeteer.

Limerick Ode To A Republican Mess

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Limerick Ode To A Republican Mess
By Madeleine Begun Kane

The debt ceiling battle keeps going,
And the risk of default keeps on growing.
The GOP team
Caused a crisis supreme.
And we’re all sure to reap what they’re sowing.

DOMA Dollars

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

For someone who claims we’re broke, John Boehner certainly has some interesting priorities:

House Republicans plan to pay former Solicitor General Paul Clement and his legal team from King & Spaulding as much as $500,000 of taxpayer money to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on behalf of House of Representatives…

As Steve Benen says:

… Boehner has been running around for months, falsely claiming, “We’re broke.” It’s how he justifies proposed cuts in critical areas like education, medical research, infrastructure, job training, and homeland security, even if it makes the jobs crisis much worse.

That brings me to my latest limerick:

DOMA Dollars
By Madeleine Begun Kane

John Boehner asserts that we’re broke,
But wastes cash to please wingnutty folk:
Big taxpayer bucks
On a lawyer deluxe
To save DOMA — for bigots bespoke.

Limerick Ode To A Government Shutdown

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Limerick Ode to A Government Shutdown
By Madeleine Begun Kane

The thought of a government shutdown
Should be quickly, decisively cut down.
But I fear that we’re screwed
Cuz of Washington’s mood:
Boehner’s party has turned into Nut Town.

Political Haiku and Tanka Too

Saturday, April 2nd, 2011

White House and Congress
bought and managed by donors —
puppet theater.

*****

An epidemic —
political hypocrites —
Today’s GOP.

*****

Unlimited cash
from corporations to pols —
democracy dies.

****

Economic growth
still not translating to jobs —
Republicans shrug.

*****

Republican cuts
to budget sure to kill jobs —
Boehner: “So be it.”

*****

Deliberately
destroying economy
seemed unthinkable.
No longer a silly thought —
GOP election goal.

******

Author’s Note: These haiku and tanka were inspired in part by the following prompts: puppet, epidemic, unlimited, growth, and silly.

Limerick Ode To John “So Be It” Boehner

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

No doubt you’ve heard about John Boehner’s “so be it” nonchalant reaction to the loss of federal jobs. It seems Boehner’s finished feigning compassion.

This calls for a limerick, don’t you think?

Limerick Ode To John “So Be It” Boehner
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Boehner’s known for his grief-stricken sobs,
For emoting through loose tear duct knobs.
Yet his eyes remain dry,
He refuses to cry
For Americans losing their jobs.

John Boehner — Exceptionally Wrong

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Speaker of the House John Boehner apparently can sleep with his eyes open. How else do we explain his odd (and objectively wrong) criticism of Obama’s State of the Union Speech?

If there’s one thing President Obama did go on about a bit about in the State of the Union, it was American exceptionalism — as the National Journal’s Ron Fournier noted at some length.

Two who didn’t entirely notice were Speaker John Boehner and Kathleen Parker. From Parker-Spitzer:

BOEHNER: Well, they — they’ve refused to talk about America exceptionalism. …

It should also be noted that Obama called Boehner Speaker of “The Greatest Nation on Earth.”

Boehner’s nonsensical complaint inspired my latest limerick:

John Boehner — Exceptionally Wrong
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Exceptionalism was missing
From the SOTU says Boehner, dismissing
Obama’s big speech
Which he tries to impeach.
Not list’ning enables the dissing.

Intelligence Redesigned

Saturday, December 18th, 2010

I didn’t think Republicans could surprise me anymore. But I must confess to being stunned by Rep. Michele “Blabbermouth” Bachmann’s appointment by Boehner to the secretive House Intelligence Committee.

And it seems even Republican insiders share my astonishment:

Bachmann once suggested that Congress should investigate whether Democratic lawmakers were pro- or anti-America, and she’s been a cable TV favorite because she’s known for colorful sound bites.

On her Facebook page, Tea Party icon Bachmann said:

As a mother of five biological children and twenty-three foster children I pledge to do whatever I need to do to keep your family, my family, and the United States safe from harm.

I feel safer already. But I still had to write this limerick:

Intelligence Redesigned
By Madeleine Begun Kane

I don’t normally make much ado
‘Bout committee appointments. Do you?
But Intelligence? Bachmann?
That’s really a shock men.
I fear for its plunging IQ.

Booing Boehner’s Boo-Hooing

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Gail Collins isn’t too impressed with incoming speaker of the House John Boehner’s Crying Game, and neither am I.

And Timothy Egan does a great job seeing through Boehner’s bountiful tears:

It’s when he talks about how he rose from his humble past — the son of a bar owner, one of 12 children who grew up in a small home with a single bathroom — that Boehner starts to weep.

“Making sure these kids have a shot at the American Dream like I did is very important,” he said, choking up, when asked on “60 Minutes” about his crying.

But a look at Boehner’s record during his two decades in Congress shows a man who has voted against nearly every boost for the working stiff. There’s no empathy for those with the longest shots at the American Dream in his voting pattern. Instead, we see a politician who is hard-hearted in his legislative treatment of the people now coping with the kind of economic conditions in which the Boehner family grew up.

That brings me to my latest limerick:

Booing Boehner’s Boo-Hooing
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Rep. Boehner cries crocodile tears.
He’s been feigning compassion for years.
Though his tears say “he cares,”
His vote record blares
That he likes kicking poor folk downstairs.

Those Sorry Republicans

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Those Sorry Republicans
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Just what’s the Republican mission?
To oppose each Obama position.
He gets tough on BP—
Gets an escrow, then see
Their response to the BP contrition:

Reps Joe Barton and Bachman and Price
By default claimed Obama ain’t nice.
He’s been mean to BP.
It a shakedown, you see.
Cuz unthinking objection’s their vice.

But fighting this fund makes no sense.
To do so’s an error immense.
The people approve.
It’s a positive move,
And opposing it makes them look dense.

Even Boehner and co seem to know
That defending BP’s a no-go.
Strikes a terrible tone,
So they rushed to disown
The pro-BP speech made by Joe.

But a hundred-plus others expressed
The same viewpoint in print. Not addressed!
It seems Boehner and co
Are pretending as though
The have solved their BP PR test.

It is clear where Republicans stand.
They are naught but a pro-corp’rate brand.
They put citizens last
And are only aghast
When a Dem gives the people a hand.

Related Posts: Kick-Ass Limerick, Haley’s Barbaric Attitude and Oily Obstruction.

An Ode To Crybaby Republicans

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

Even The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page thinks Republicans are crybabies about the bailout bill:

House Republicans share the blame, and not only because they opposed the bill by about two-to-one, 133-65. Their immediate response was to say that many of their Members turned against the bill at the last minute because Ms. Pelosi gave her nasty speech. So they are saying that Republicans chose to oppose something they think is in the national interest merely because of a partisan slight. Thank heaven these guys weren’t at Valley Forge.

An Ode To Crybaby Republicans
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Republican leaders assert
That the plan that attempts to avert
A depression just failed
Cuz Pelosi’s speech nailed
Bush’s failures — their feelings were hurt.

They are patriots first, they proclaim,
But when action’s a must they hurl blame,
Rushing out to condemn
“Hurtful” words from a Dem.
They treat critical bills like a game.

Fordham Axed, Scapegoated To The Max

Wednesday, October 4th, 2006

Tom Reynolds would have us believe that the GOP House leaders would surely have done something about Foley’s House page proclivities long ago, if only evil Kirk Fordham (Reynolds’ chief of staff) hadn’t talked them out of it.  And that brings me to this limerick:

Fordham Axed, Scapegoated To The Max
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Congressman Reynolds’ charade
Is dumping Kirk Fordham, his aide.
He is shifting the blame
For the page abuse shame,
So House Leaders can justice evade.

More on the Foley House Page Scandal for your reading (and viewing) pleasure:
* From Shakespeare’s Sister, Fordham will not go gently into that good night.
* One Good Move has the Daily Show clip: Foley Erect.
* Skippy presents Pedophile Theater.
* From Don Davis, The ‘Dirty Dozen’ Foley Stories The Corporate Media Won’t Report.
* Avedon Carol on Foley’s law and Foley’s law-breaking.
* From Steve Bates, A Different Kind Of Coverup.
* From Hollywood Liberal, Fox News calls Mark Foley a Democrat.
* From Mahablog, The Condi and Dennis Show.
* Digby’s Coup, Coup Cajoob.
* All Hat No Cattle’s Finger Pointing 

[tags]Tom Reynolds, Foley Scandal, House Leadership, Hastert’s Coverup, Kirk Fordham, GOP Scapegoat, Finger Pointing[/tags]

Ode To GOP Hypocrisy (Updated)

Sunday, October 1st, 2006

The House GOP leadership seems to be in a bit of trouble for covering up Mark Foley’s predatory Net communications.  So I dedicate my Ode To GOP Hypocrisy to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader John Boehner:

Ode To GOP Hypocrisy
By Madeleine Begun Kane

When accusations first arose
V. Foley in the House.
The GOP top leadership
Was quiet as a mouse.

Had Foley been a Democrat
Accused of heinous acts,
Those fellows would have  trumpeted
Their “values” to the max.

The scandal keeps getting worse.  Did the GOP know about Foley way back in 2001? It sure looks that way.

[tags]GOP Hypocrisy, Mark Foley, Child Predators, Net Communications, House Page Scandal, Florida Election[/tags]